Daniel h



(No Model.)

D. H. MURPHY.

SECURING TOGLS T0 HANDLES. No. 291,851. v Patented Jan. 8, 1884.

mug, I 3 5% fi i NITED STATES PATENT Tron.

DANIEL H. MURPHY, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHNS. SMILEDGE, OF SAME PLACE.

SECURING TOOLS TO HANDLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 291,851, dated January8, 1884.

Application filed May 10,1863. (No model.)

To a whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, DANIEL H. lVIURIHY, of Hartford, in the county ofHartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements inMethods of andDevices for Securing Tools to Handles; andI do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof, whereby a person skilled in the art can make anduse the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and tothe letters of reference marked thereon.

Like letters in the figures indicate the same parts.

Figure l is a top View of my device as applied to a hammer. Fig. 2 is aView in longitudinal crosssection of same on line as x of Fig. 1.

My invention relates to the class of devices used for securing tools tohandles, and more particularly to those used in hammers, a-Xes,adzes,and thelike, inwliich the handle,inserted in the head of thesocket, is split and a wedge compressed in the slit, preferably beforethe handle is placed in the socket.

The wedges in common use are of iron, wood, or the like hard materials;but my invention consists in using for a wedge ahighlyelasticmaterial-as india-rubber or the likei which is compressed and forcedinto the slit in the handle, in which it expands and binds the handleagainst the sides of the tool-socket with a constant pressure.

In the accompanying drawings, the letter a denotes a hammer-head; b, ahandle of ordinary material, as wood; I), slits in the end inserted inthe hammer-socket, and c a wedge of india-rubber or like elasticmaterial, which is compressed in the slitted end of the handle, which isthen forced into the socket in the tool-head. One or more of thesewedges may be used in slits in the handle, made transversely in anydesired direction 5 but in the form shown in the drawings the wedgeforms a cushion which aids materially in the use of the hammer by givinga certain elasticity to the blow-an incidental advantage, but not themain object of my invention.

One special advantage of the rubber wedge is, that when the hammer isused there is no tendency on the part of the rubber wedge to crawl or beforced out from the slit, there being sufficient friction between thesurfaces of the wood and the rubber to afford a secure hold, and theconstant pressure of the wedge keeps the handle end distended to thefull extent of the socket in the tool-head, and takes up any shrinkagecaused by the seasoning of the wood.

It is obvious that my invention is capable of many modifications andadaptations in the special art to which it relates-namely, the securingof socketed tools and the like to their handlesand that the form andposition of the wedge may be varied without the exercise of invention aslong as it is so placed as to expand the slitted end of the handle.

In order to more securely hold the elastic wedges in the slits, Icorrugate the faces of the slits or make use of the cavities b, in whichthe elastic material expands, securely holding the wedge againstlongitudinal displacement after the handle is inserted in the socket.

I claim as my invention-- 1. The method of securing a tool to itshandle, which consists in slitting the end of the handle, compressing insaid slitted end a wedge of elastic material, as india-rubber, and theninserting the slitted end of the handle into the handle-socket in thetool, all substantially as described.

2. In combination, a tool having a handlesocket, a handle having aslitted end, and a wedge of elastic material compressed in said slittedend of the handle, whereby the handle is wedged in the socket in thetool, all substantially as described.

3. In combination, tool a, handle I), having the end slits, b, withenlargement b, andwedge c, of rubber or its equivalent, compressed inthe slit, all substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

DANIEL H. MURPHY.

Vitnesses:

CHAS. L. BURDET'I,

WM. H. llIARSH.

